2 years ago
274
By Kristy Hutchings | Correspondent
Val Lerch, a erstwhile North Long Beach metropolis councilman and veteran, is known by his assemblage arsenic an advocator for veterans — and for the metropolis successful general.
Lerch, who served 12 years successful the Coast Guard and 30 successful the reserves, has been heavy progressive with the yearly Long Beach Veterans Day Parade since its inception astir 25 years ago.
The parade was cancelled for the 2nd twelvemonth successful a enactment owed to the pandemic. In its absence, the metropolis of Long Beach hosted a Veterans Day Festival astatine Houghton Park connected Saturday, Nov. 13 — wherever a tribute honored veterans, including Lerch.
Lerch was diagnosed with crab a fewer years agone — and has been battling it successful galore forms since then. In aboriginal October, helium and his household learned that the crab had returned, and it was untreatable.
Now successful hospice attraction successful his location successful North Long Beach, Lerch was excessively sick to be the festival wherever helium was among the honorees.
Firefighters astatine Station #12, which Lerch helped to rebuild during his eight-year tenure connected the City Council, took it upon themselves to guarantee Lerch would beryllium celebrated for his work and dedication to the metropolis regardless.
The full station’s brigade, occurrence motortruck and paramedic teams included, pulled up to Lerch’s curbside connected the greeting of the Veterans Day Festival to wage their respects to the antheral who did truthful overmuch for their community.
The firefighters were welcomed wrong by Lerch’s girl and granddaughter, Vicki and Tori Ann Lerch, respectively.
“We’ve got each of Station 12 here,” 1 firefighter told Lerch. “We’ve got the rescue and the motor here.”
“Beautiful,” Lerch replied emphatically. “I built that station!”
Lerch regaled the firefighters with a fewer stories astir his clip successful the Coast Guard and connected the City Council. After 20 minutes oregon so, the unit was pulled distant by an exigency call.
“We conscionable got a call, truthful we’re gonna instrumentality off,” a firefighter said. “We conscionable wanted to travel by and archer you convey you — and convey you for your work and each that you’ve done. You’ve done a batch for us. We truly admit it. We privation you to cognize that.”
Lerch’s granddaughter, Tori Ann, described however hard it’s been for Lerch’s household to witnesser his decline.
In his prime, Lerch was highly progressive successful North Long Beach. Whether it was cigars with different politicians connected a Friday nighttime oregon helping to found a caller programme for veterans, Lerch was lively, emphatic, and passionate astir life.
Lerch, his household said, utilized to locomotion down the way of the Veteran’s Day Parade each year. He refused to beryllium connected a interval distant from the assemblage — helium wanted each accidental helium could get to interact with his community.
“The mean idiosyncratic that helium was, going from each those things to being successful furniture having a hard clip remembering things,” Tori Ann said. “It’s been truly hard for the family.”
But Lerch, contempt his declining health, is kept successful bully spirits by a dependable watercourse of visitors who travel to wage their respects.
“He loves the radical that travel in,” Tori Ann said. “It’s helped him beryllium a small happier.”
Tori Ann thinks that radical should cognize 1 happening astir her grandfather: that North Long Beach is his bosom and soul.
“His full clip successful this community, helium did everything helium could to support North Long formation arsenic beauteous arsenic helium could,” she said. “He dedicated everything to North Long Beach.”
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